Really great guy, and solid depth player throughout his time with us. Might be time for him to hang them up, he's had a long, successful career, won his Super Bowl Ring, and has some advocacy interests that are coming more into vogue at this time.

ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 1m
The Ravens have released LB Brendon Ayanbadejo, per league source.

Not very surprising, but just decreases the depth, thus making ILB more of a need.

Honestly I think they would have cut him awhile ago, but out of respect for his Supreme Court testimony, they held onto him. Ravens linebacker has a better ring to it than former Ravens linebacker._________________Really just waiting for Ozzie to draft Karlos Williams

Brendon Ayanbadejo signed a three-year $3.22 million contract last year, was due $940,000 base salary this year. Cap savings: $807,000

Quote:

Jeff Zrebiec ‏@jeffzrebiecsun

Ayanbadejo released saves about $800,000 under cap and will leave the #Ravens with about $6 million of cap room.

Perhaps another veteran ILB on the FA market comes in soon?

Zrebiec isn't factoring in the Rule of 51. Ayanbadejo's release only frees up about $200,000 of cap space.

EDIT - Here's the official number:

Quote:

Brian McFarland ‏@RavensSalaryCap 40s
As reported, Ayanbadejo's release saves $807K, but actual Cap impact is only $327K under Ruleof51, due 2 cost of replacement player of $480K

I'm not worried or surprised about this move. It seems like Harbaugh really wanted to clear out the more outspoken guys on defense. Better watch your back Suggs. Ayanabdejo wasn't useful on defense anyways though. Hs special teams play had gone downhill too.

Brian McFarland ‏@RavensSalaryCap 40s
As reported, Ayanbadejo's release saves $807K, but actual Cap impact is only $327K under Ruleof51, due 2 cost of replacement player of $480K

I'm not worried or surprised about this move. It seems like Harbaugh really wanted to clear out the more outspoken guys on defense. Better watch your back Suggs. Ayanabdejo wasn't useful on defense anyways though. Hs special teams play had gone downhill too.

Don't think Ayanbadejo really falls into that category, or that it has much to do with this move. Outside of that one incident with tweeting before the AFCCG he never was never really a big trash talker, and in terms of his off-the-field advocacy, the organization was extremely supportive of him. And it actually seemed like he was one of Harbaugh's biggest backers in the locker room from everything I've seen.

Him getting cut mostly just has to do with the fact that he's old and doesn't have much left to offer on the field._________________

Don't think Ayanbadejo really falls into that category, or that it has much to do with this move. Outside of that one incident with tweeting before the AFCCG he never was never really a big trash talker, and in terms of his off-the-field advocacy, the organization was extremely supportive of him. And it actually seemed like he was one of Harbaugh's biggest backers in the locker room from everything I've seen.

Him getting cut mostly just has to do with the fact that he's old and doesn't have much left to offer on the field.

I wasn't really getting at his advocacy endeavors, more towards the tweeting thing. Just seemed kind of odd and pointless. He probably was cut more because of his on-field play/usefulness more than anything else but I wouldn't count out the off-field stuff as being a potential reason as well. His age probably didn't help either. The Ravens' site has Ayanbadejo at 32 but he's actually 36.

His age probably didn't help either. The Ravens' site has Ayanbadejo at 32 but he's actually 36.

This has been baffling me for a while, so thank you for the clarification. I read an article last year that had Ayanbadejo as 36, and wondered whether he'd be retiring soon. Then the Ravens have him listed as 32, and wikipedia has him as 36 (and that's not the most reliable source in the world).

So I can definitely understand the Ravens parting ways with a 36 year old Special Teams guy who isn't expected to make much of an impact on defense.

Why keep him around when you can go much younger, with someone like Josh Bynes, who can play Special Teams and rotate in as a LB? This just frees up one more roster spot for a younger FA, a draft pick or a UDFA.

Seems like the Ravens are really committed to getting younger, and I'm definitely a supporter of that. T-Sizzle will feel like an old man in that locker room, before long!

And I do hope Ayanbadejo chooses to enter politics or some form of activism now, because he's had a pretty good journeyman career and capping it with a Super Bowl ring would be a good way to sign off._________________

2.) It REALLY seems like Harbaugh wants EVERYONE who was outspoken (not only trash talking, but just outspoken in general) gone, and if not, it's just a HUGE coincidence then.

3.) Not surprising. He's not a ST "ace" anymore.

I don't think it's an "outspoken" thing at all for Ayanbadejo -- he wasn't outspoken. He only said the 1 thing on Twitter. Other than that, he was only "outspoken" on certain issues, but many other players are as well, particularly Ray Rice on bullying.

The only two "outspoken" people that we didn't really try to bring back were Pollard and Reed. We tried to keep Boldin but he didn't want to take less money._________________

2.) It REALLY seems like Harbaugh wants EVERYONE who was outspoken (not only trash talking, but just outspoken in general) gone, and if not, it's just a HUGE coincidence then.

3.) Not surprising. He's not a ST "ace" anymore.

I don't think it's an "outspoken" thing at all for Ayanbadejo -- he wasn't outspoken. He only said the 1 thing on Twitter. Other than that, he was only "outspoken" on certain issues, but many other players are as well, particularly Ray Rice on bullying.

The only two "outspoken" people that we didn't really try to bring back were Pollard and Reed. We tried to keep Boldin but he didn't want to take less money.

Agreed. I think with Ayanbadejo it's purely, 'he's 36, he only plays special teams, we can get someone who's a lot younger and has a lot more potential'. It's a no-brainer, as far as I can see.

The only outspoken guy Harbaugh has actively got rid of, that I can see, is Pollard. And even then, there are plenty of on-the-field reasons, in that he struggles to cover on passing plays. With Reed, it's always going to be debatable because the choice was 'pay him enough to say no to the Texans or don't'. With the decline in his general play, which has been pointed out by several people on this forum, it was always going to be an interesting, and difficult decision._________________

Yeah, I think in terms of this whole 'outspoken' business it's a case of finding correlation and assuming a form of causation. I'm willing to believe with Pollard that his attitude did play a role in his release. It seems like he was a pain to work with both for Harbaugh and was also grating for certain teammates, and it was a case where concerns about his viability as a player on the field helped make the decision to cut him easier.

With Reed, nothing outside of Mike Preston's personal gossip column points to his personality playing an undue role in his departure. We had a price, made an offer, he had a better offer with Houston. Business is business.

Boldin doesn't really fit the mold of 'outspoken' in the way that it's generally being trotted around. If he's outspoken, then any guy with emotion on the team is outspoken, and it's not like the guys left behind in Baltimore are robots. And again, we were willing to take him back, just at a reduced rate. Business is business.

In the case of Ayanbadejo, unless anyone really believes that had he not tweeted that night of the Pats/Texans game that he'd still be a Raven, it's flat out not a credible factor. It either is or it isn't. In this case, most everyone agrees that a 36 year old special teamer isn't necessarily a valuable use of roster space. The Twitter/advocacy stuff is just window dressing ignoring the real reason.

It's not like Harbaugh isn't willing to work with 'outspoken' players. Terrell Suggs is more outspoken than everyone else we let go combined. He's still here, wasn't asked to restructure despite sporting the highest cap number on the team, and got his big money extension while Harbaugh was coach.

Ray Rice's Terrible Towel faux-feuds were more or less on par with Ayanbadejo's Twitter war with the Pats, and it's not like Harbaugh has had issues with him. Another guy who got a big money extension under Harbaugh.

We were set to sign James Harrison before Dumervil hit the market, and in Harrison you have someone who has spewed more public fire at Goodell than anyone else in the league. He's loud and opinionated and we were prepared to take him in.

Our quarterback's contract was up this offseason, and in Flacco we're talking about a guy who periodically mouths off to the press about how he feels disrespected and how he feels he is 'elite.' What did we do? Only made him the highest paid player in the NFL._________________